The Closet: Everthing Coming Out This Week (Feb. 22 – 28)

Last week American Idol lost its top spot in the Thursday night ratings for the first time in, well, ever, thanks to NBC’s primetime Olympics coverage. The Winter Games are back this week with women’s ski jumping, women’s biathlon, women’s hockey, women’s alpine skiing and women’s figure skating. Most networks are still holding back their new episodes until the Games are over. And some networks (*cough* CW *cough*) aren’t airing any new episodes until mid-March. But there’s still a handful of gay offerings coming out this week.

24 (Fox, 9:00) — President Taylor (played by out actress Cherry Jones) is still working on her neverending peace negotiations. Can’t we all just hold hands and watch the Olympics together?

Men of a Certain Age (TNT, 10:00) — In the season finale of TNT’s freshman dramedy, Emily Rios reprises her role as a lesbian employee at Ray Romano‘s party supply store.

Tuesday

American Idol (Fox, 8:00) — Hallelujah! The auditions and Hollywood week are finally over! The top 12 girls compete on Tuesday night. This is what we (and Ellen) have been waiting for.

Wednesday

American Idol (Fox, 8:00) — The top 12 guys compete for the top 20 spots.

The Real World: Washington DC (MTV, 10:00) — Mike and Emily are up to their bisexual shenanigans while Josh gets busted for cheating.[AfterEllen.com Real World recaps]

Wanda Sykes: I’ma Be Me (HBO, 9:30) — If you haven’t caught Sykes’ now (in)famous HBO special, be sure to tune in (or set the DVR). Nothing is off-limits, and since it’s on premium cable, you get the full-on swearing version. (Read our review here.)

Nip/Tuck (FX, 10:00) — Remember Ryan Murphy before Glee? Well, you’ve only two episodes of Nip/Tuck left to appreciate his pre-High School Musical days. Julie is back this week and lesbian doctor Liz apparently has some earth-shaking news.

Los Hombres de Paco (Spain) — LHDP returned last week for the first time since Silvia was gunned down on her and Pepa’s wedding day. Set six months later, Pepa is trying to deal with her wife’s death by smoking and making out with grandpa-types. This week she returns to the precinct.

Thursday

Skins (Britain’s E4, 10:00 GMT) — Effy and Freds get up to some drug-fueled hijinks at some kind of carnival. Fingers crossed for even a moment of Naomily. [AfterEllen.com Skins recaps]

Caprica (SyFy, 9:00) — Bisexual headmistress (and cult ring-leader) Sister Clarice Willow spent some time in bed with one of her wives last week, before jetting off to thwart the Global Defense Department. This week, Shannon Adama escapes from the Matrix, apparently. And gay uncle Sam will be awesome as always. [AfterElton.com Caprica recaps]

Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9:00) — Katherine and Robin began their fledgling romance on last week’s episode, and while we’re still not sure exactly where the writers will take this lesbian relationship, we’ve been assured that it’s not just a ratings stunt. Fingers crossed!

Tool Academy 3 (VH1, 9:00) — Tool Academy‘s first lesbian, Courtney, gets a lesson in humility this week, when the tools’ girlfriends tell them they are too obsessed with their appearance.

Also: Everybody’s Fine comes out on DVD tomorrow, featuring Drew Barrymore as a lesbian with Kate Moennig as her partner, and out musician Holly Miranda‘s album The Magician’s Private Library gets released on XL Recordings.